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Not preregistering may be a good personal decision but if is done by a lot of members, it will throw a monkey wrench in rally preparations. If the preregistrations are low and a lot of unregistered people show up because the weather is good, there won't be enough supplies or facilities to handle all of the people. It puts the committee in a no win situation. If they plan for the preregistered members plus the nornal number of unregistered folks and they come up short because of a large turnout, they will be criticized. If they prepare for a large number of unregistered members and they don't show up due to the weather, they will be criticized for wasting club money.

Actually that's not quite correct.

When I co-chared the Vermont rally our budget (like all rally budgets) had to have a break even point of 4,500 in attendance, regardless of pre-reg numbers.

As we was expecting at least 8,000 (almost double) but couldn't budget for 8,000 (think porta potties and such) all the service contracts had clauses indicating what would happen as we went from the budgeted attendance up to 10,000. It worked out very well, we had twice a day meetings and added equipment as late as Friday morning.

The point is every rally is budgeted to break even at a set number that is pretty low and every rally chair needs to be ready to "ramp up" as the rally grows.

For me if I can go I'll pre-register. I always pre-reg as it gets me through the line much faster and I don't have to mess around with filling out forms in a hot tent after a long ride. I see it as a bet. Once I know I can take the time, I'm willing to bet 30 bucks that I'll show up, vs not pre-registering and bet more money that it will be cool enough, plus the whole fill out the form and wait in a longer line thing.

When I co-chared the Vermont rally our budget (like all rally budgets) had to have a break even point of 4,500 in attendance, regardless of pre-reg numbers.

As we was expecting at least 8,000 (almost double) but couldn't budget for 8,000 (think porta potties and such) all the service contracts had clauses indicating what would happen as we went from the budgeted attendance up to 10,000. It worked out very well, we had twice a day meetings and added equipment as late as Friday morning.

The point is every rally is budgeted to break even at a set number that is pretty low and every rally chair needs to be ready to "ramp up" as the rally grows.

For me if I can go I'll pre-register. I always pre-reg as it gets me through the line much faster and I don't have to mess around with filling out forms in a hot tent after a long ride. I see it as a bet. Once I know I can take the time, I'm willing to bet 30 bucks that I'll show up, vs not pre-registering and bet more money that it will be cool enough, plus the whole fill out the form and wait in a longer line thing.

I was talking about the stuff that is rally specific like the mugs, t-shirts, patches and such and not the number of attendees to make the rally profitable. If the pre-registrations are much lower than normal, I would think the committee would
anticipate fewer attendees and would purchase rally specific supplies based on that figure. If the attendance turns out to be larger than planned for, the last arrivers might not get their stuff. If the committee anticipates far more attendees than the pre-registration suggests and they do not show up, there would be a lot of patches, mugs, etc. that would have to be thrown away.

'You can say what you want about the South, but I almost never hear of anyone wanting to retire to the North.

I was talking about the stuff that is rally specific like the mugs, t-shirts, patches and such and not the number of attendees to make the rally profitable. If the pre-registrations are much lower than normal, I would think the committee would
anticipate fewer attendees and would purchase rally specific supplies based on that figure. If the attendance turns out to be larger than planned for, the last arrivers might not get their stuff. If the committee anticipates far more attendees than the pre-registration suggests and they do not show up, there would be a lot of patches, mugs, etc. that would have to be thrown away.

True but in the grand scheme of a rally budget a 30% overage on mugs, pins and patches would likely be around 2% of the total rally cost.

The key number from Bloomsburg is what is the percentage of pre-registered that didn't show. If you had that number you could take a pretty educated guess at how many people would have been there if it had not been so hot.

Not preregistering may be a good personal decision but if is done by a lot of members, it will throw a monkey wrench in rally preparations. If the preregistrations are low and a lot of unregistered people show up because the weather is good, there won't be enough supplies or facilities to handle all of the people. It puts the committee in a no win situation. If they plan for the preregistered members plus the nornal number of unregistered folks and they come up short because of a large turnout, they will be criticized. If they prepare for a large number of unregistered members and they don't show up due to the weather, they will be criticized for wasting club money.

Comparing a local rally to a national rally is not practical. I've chaired the Wisconsin Dells Rally 5 times, and I've chaired 3 National rallies.

Local rallies typically are held in the same location and on the same dates, year-after-year. The basic costs are known in advance, and the general attendance numbers usually don't vary all that much. For the Dells rally, our largest expense is the food for Friday night and Saturday night, which is why we offer a good discount for people to preregister. If I remember correctly, Falling Leaf does not offer a meal, so their cost outlay is less of a gamble.

Sue Rihn #43753
BMW MOA Ambassador
It's Billings in 2015! #BeTheAdventureSometimes it's the bend in the road that makes life worth the ride.

Cheese anyone?

The Holiday Inn and Comfort Inn appear to be sold out for the rally dates. Hotel Bothwell still has rooms available as of today.

Yes, its been that way since the day my wife and I returned from Bloomsburg. And unlike the Rallies in Johnson City, Redmond and Bloomsburg, there is not much in the way of nearby cities. That pretty much means that I will miss the rally for the first time since I picked up my LT.

Its like the MOA staff and those who knew ahead of time snapped up what few rooms there were in the area. Or there are enough construction projects that nobody from the Rally will be at the HI and Comfort Inn. This makes me wonder if Sedalia, MO was such a great choice. My wife and I are a bit past our camping on the ground years and its a real shame as this would have been the second rally that was close enough to ride to in a day.

Well, I guess they don't like critics; its just sour grapes at missing the 2012 Rally for lack of services this far in advance.

Camping:)

No rooms, camp! Have ya'll looked lately at camping equipment??? Its a ton better nowadays than in years past, so sleeping on the ground is not an issue for most. I suspect its not the ground but that shower and potty in your room. I spend about 1% of my time in a shower or potty, so camping is still great, even older guys like myself. Happy Trails, Randy

Its like the MOA staff and those who knew ahead of time snapped up what few rooms there were in the area.

Or it could be that your fellow members booked their rooms after we publicly announced the site on April 30th - over three months ago

One of the mandatory requirements for any rally site is the availability of 2,500 to 3,500 hotel/motel rooms. The site location is kept a closely guarded secret until all the arrangements can be made, in part to specifically give everyone an equal shot at booking rooms once the site is announced. The MOA does reserve a block of 200 to 300 rooms for volunteers and staff, but that's a very small number. No one else is "in" on the site until it's announced.

Well, I guess they don't like critics; its just sour grapes at missing the 2012 Rally for lack of services this far in advance.

Darn shame.

If anyone thinks that your club leadership is in the business of intentionally irritating the members I can assure that is not the case. However, we don't have the time to troll every thread on the forum. Please send suggestions and ideas to "board@bmwmoa.org". Thanks.